Interactive Design

Our Approach

From art direction, to corporate communications, to multimedia design specialties, our program moves through topics in design that encompass a wide array of professional challenges. Leveraging our networks, students employ their talents and knowledge to solve real world problems with clients in the community.

We borrow research methods from cognitive psychology; business and marketing; anthropology; information science; and communication. And we use research in all phases of design – from determining user needs to implementing solutions.

Our program recognizes the shifts in design education

The world no longer exclusively depends on printed materials; if anything, printed materials often serve as conduit to drive people to the web and mobile devices.

We are moving from broadcast one-way communication toward designing experiences which lead people into structured participation and digital engagement.

Contemporary design thinking and research methods work effectively across disciplines to shape our understanding of complex business, social and cultural issues.

Everyone is a creator/ maker. Since the world now has templates, designers have become the ones to build those structured experiences.

The above represent a shift from a focus on designing commercial goods to one on co-designing processes which focus on understanding problems and designing experiences and services.

Innovative Curriculum

A sample of our innovative courses includes:

▶Branded Environments
Integrates traditional branding (a hallmark of many undergraduate design programs) with an emphasis on spatial planning. Aims to orient students towards thinking within environments such as small scale retail spaces and/or exhibition design.

On Chatham's Approach

"Because of the rapidly changing nature of these fields, responsiveness and adaptability are at least as important as any specific skills. The best thing we can do for out students is teach them to teach themselves, which is what they will need to do as the technology continues to evolve."

– Prajna Parasher,Professor and Chair of Arts, Humanities, Design, and Communication; Program Director of Film and Digital Technology programs

"Consumers are becoming brandmakers; co-designing is something unique to a generation of designers who once designed for others. As design educators and practitioners we need to reorient our positions and engage in processes which enable us to structure design and problem solving so that we design together with you, through shared participatory processes."

– David R. Burke, Assistant Professor of Visual Communication

Experience

From art direction, to corporate communications, to multi-media design specialties, our interdisciplinary design program is sequenced to move through stages of design that comprise a wide array of professional challenges. Leveraging our networks, students employ their talents and knowledge on real world problems with community based clients. Our integrated and collaborative courses replicate many of the interdisciplinary processes each will find in the teamwork of professional practice to prepare students for careers in design.

Skills for the design field

Survey

Analytic discourse within class critiques culminates in the program wide "survey" experience that mirrors the world they will meet upon graduation. Chatham students receive faculty-led, department-wide critiques at the culmination of each semester, gaining valuable feedback from peer, faculty and professional artists and designers.

Technical Agility

Students move from foundations to mastery in an array of software and languages: Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, After Effects); Final Cut Pro; HTML/CSS; JavaScript. Graduates will move across interfaces and understand the tools' strengths and limitations when considering platforms and devices utilized for integrated communications. A significant part of "mastery" in this field is recognition that change is rapid and innovation is the norm.

MA Thesis/MFA Thesis Experience

Students' theses bridge theory, historical frameworks, and research methods, drawing on other disciplines as appropriate. For example, cognitive psychology may be used to enrich a designer's understanding of emotional design used in interactive frameworks. Concurrently with producing stellar work, students are expected to use their theses to grapple with issues raised by critical theory.

A Thesis Advisor and advisory board work closely with each student to guide his or her research and to facilitate the free flow of ideas amongst departments and graduate students in other disciplines.

Work

Video: Purchased Identities

Print Design: Brand Identity

Community

Pittsburgh has a vibrant, supportive community of design professionals and organizations that push the boundaries of the field. In the ID program, we leverage these advantages to help students seek the connections, networks, collaborators, and inspiration that will help them succeed in these evolving fields.

Regional Internship Partners

Our students have held internships at companies including:

Pittsburgh's Community of Design Professionals

Centrally located in the northeast, Pittsburgh is located a day's drive from a number of major cities including Chicago, Detroit, Washington DC and New York City.

Chatham University's MA/MFA program is located on the Shadyside campus, minutes from downtown Pittsburgh and within the heart of the design communities–East Liberty, Oakland, Lawrenceville, Southside–in close proximity to a network of design professionals.

Award-winning faculty are culled from industry with decades of professional design experience in publication, corporate communications, product and package advertising, media and interactive design studios.